Lewis & Clark Campground & RV Park

This was a good location for sightseeing at the Oregon waterfalls and the Bonneville Dam, and for taking a sternwheeler trip from Cascade Locks. It would also be convenient for Portland via I-84. I chose to stay on the Washington side to get away from the crowds and the noise from I-84.

Use I-84 and the Bridge of the Gods to get here. There is a $2 toll on the bridge for cars/pickups, plus $1 per axle for trailers. I came in on WA Hwy 14 from the coast, and it was windy and narrow with speeding drivers. To the east of Cascade Locks on Hwy 14, there are narrow tunnels, and a sign warns of one with 11’9” height clearance.

When I arrived, the office was closed, and nobody answered the phone number posted on the door. I had not been asked to pay when I made my reservation, so after looking around and finding nobody, I was about to go on campendium and find somewhere else to go, when one of the residents walked by and offered to find someone. A woman subsequently appeared with a notebook, gave me my site number, and told me to put a check in the slot on the office wall. I never again saw any staff member other than the groundsman, and the office had a closed sign every time I passed. My $26 daily rate reflects a $180 weekly rate for a water/electric hookup.

This turned out to be a workman’s camp. A notice outside the office with instructions on how to join the waiting list for permanent sites referred to recreational campers as “temps”. However, it was quiet, the place was scrupulously clean, and most of the RVs were recent models. The residents of the section I was in appeared to be migrant contractors rather than low-income permanents.

My pull-through site was ridiculously narrow, to the extent that I found spiders’ webs draped between the trailer and the trees every morning. This was a huge campground, and I was three rows away from the train tracks. The train noise was not intrusive at that distance because of the trees, and there were no crossings in the vicinity for them to blow their horns at, but there was a railroad bridge being rebuilt nearby, at which they blew a few short blasts. Hwy 14 was some distance from the campground, and I never heard it.

Voltage was normally 110-112 V, occasionally up to 116 V. This was in cool weather with no air conditioners running, so I expect there would a problem in hot weather.

Verizon 4G was with 3 bars, -94 dB, with a variable data rate of 2-16 Mpbs down and 0.2-3 up.

It's location apparently comes with a steep price. Winter and summer pricing appear to be 65.